Coronary heart disease, LDL/HDL ratio or smoking?

Coronary heart disease, LDL/HDL ratio or smoking?are there any good primary sources that mention this issue?
Which one is the most important risk factor for coronary heart disease? is it the ratio of LDL/HDL or is it smoking?

Thanks

Ellie
Actually it is both. I had a stroke it was do to a blocked carotid artery caused by high cholesterol ldl/hdl bad cholesterol/good cholesterol and smoking. Smoking restricts the arteries causing them to also block.

Dr. B
As you know, there are many risk factors for coronary artery disease including age > 55 in men > 45 for women, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, obesity, high LDL (bad cholesterol), and low HDL (good cholesterol. The relative increase in risk from these risk factors depends on how large the exposure is. For example, the higher the LDL, the higher the risk. The more you smoke, the higher the risk. Both LDL/HDL and smoking contribute to the development of heart disease and it depends on how bad the LDL and HDL are and the amount of smoking. So it is very difficult to answer your question of which is more important, because they both are. There was a large study known as the Framingham study that followed individuals for some time to determine risk factors for heart disease and how much contribution each has to the development of coronary artery disease. There are calculators available online which can estimate the risk of having a heart attack or death from a heart attack in the next ten years. You can play around with the numbers if you like to see how modification of the risk factors influences the outcomes. I will add the link below. Good luck.

http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/atpiii/calculator.asp?usertype=prof#moreinfo

Give your answer to this question below! Smoking Cessation - Quit Smoking Today. Smoking Cessation helps smokers kick their nicotine addiction, providing tools, information and support for people quitting smoking.

---

Orignal From: Coronary heart disease, LDL/HDL ratio or smoking?